Tips To Maintain Your Skeleton This Halloween Season

Fall is in the air and kids are getting excited about apple picking, pumpkins, and of course, Halloween!
Deciding on the best and most creative costume- whether trendy or traditional- can be a lot of fun.
What is my favorite costume you may ask? Well, I bet you can guess that of course, it’s the Skeleton! Did
you know the human skeleton starts out with 305 bones as a newborn but as it grows older, the baby’s
body, which is mostly cartilage, undergoes ossification to form a complete skeletal system, having 206
bones! With skeletons on the brain, this would be a perfect opportunity to talk about spine care and the
importance of posture.

The skeletal system is responsible for holding up our entire structure and is where all of our muscles,
ligaments, and organs attach. Posture is the resulting way we hold our spine to keep good form so that
we can walk, breathe, and function optimally. When we have good posture, the muscles surrounding
the spine are balanced and support the body equally. Good posture not only allows you to “sit up
straight”, but allows the rib cage to move appropriately so the lungs can expand and contract fully to get
oxygen into the body, for the brain to get adequate nutrition and blood flow, and is an important part of
your long-term health. Making sure that you hold your body the right way, whether you are moving or
still, can prevent pain, injuries, and other health problems such as poor memory.
So, what does good posture look like?

Although looking at your body from the back you should not have any curves (that is called “scoliosis”)
and your spinal vertebrae should be lined up on top of each other, looking at your body from the side,
your spine should have three natural curves. At your neck you have a “c” shaped curve to hold up the
weight of your head and act as a biomechanical “shock absorber”. This curve is extremely important to
allow proper nervous system response and communication from your brain to your body and vice versa
as well as sensation and strength to your arms and hands from spinal nerves in that area. Your mid back
has the opposite shape curve to hold up your rib cage and allow for appropriate rib expansion and
contraction for breathing, and your lower back also has a “c” shape like the neck, to hold up your pelvis
and allow proper strength and sensation to the legs and feet as well as proper functioning of the nerves
in that area that innervate your bowels, bladder, and your reproductive organs. Correct posture should
maintain these curves. Your head should be neutral with your ears over your shoulders, and the top of
your shoulder should be over the hips. Sometimes either due to a difficult birth process where the neck
and head get “jammed” or “stuck”, accidents or injuries that cause whiplash, repetitive poor postures
like looking down at your phone or computer all of the time (aka “tech neck”) or sleeping with too many
pillows or on your stomach, you can either not develop, or may decrease the correctly shaped
curvatures of your spine. Chiropractic care is aimed at evaluating spinal biomechanics and gently and
effectively restoring spinal curvature where needed. Along with chiropractic care, paying attention to
both your dynamic posture (how you hold yourself when you are moving – walking, running, or bending
to pick something up) and static posture (how you hold yourself when you are not moving such as in
sitting, standing or sleeping) in your daily activities is extremely important.

How can posture affect my health?

As touched upon above, poor posture can negatively impact your health. Slouching or slumping over
can:

• Misalign your musculoskeletal system causing pain, interference to the nervous system,
  decreased blood flow, and muscle imbalance
• Wear away at your spine, causing arthritis and disc issues, and making it more fragile and prone
  to injury
• Cause neck, shoulder, and back pain
• Decrease your flexibility
• Affect how well your joints move
• Affect your balance and increase your risk of falling
• Make it harder to digest your food
• Make it harder to breathe

How can I improve my posture in general?

• Be mindful of your posture during everyday activities, like watching television, washing dishes,
  or walking
• Stay active. Any kind of exercise may help improve your posture, but certain types of stretching
  and strengthening exercises can be especially helpful. They include yoga, tai chi, and other
  classes that focuses on body awareness. It is also a good idea to do exercises that strengthen
  your core (muscles around your back, abdomen, and pelvis).
• Maintain a healthy weight. Extra weight can weaken your abdominal muscles, cause problems
  for your pelvis and spine, and contribute to low back pain. All of these can hurt your posture.
• Wear comfortable, low-heeled shoes. High heels, for example, can throw off your balance and
  force you to walk differently. This puts more stress on your muscles, can tilt your pelvis, and
  harms your posture.
• Make sure work surfaces are at a comfortable height for you (ergonomic), whether you're sitting
  in front of a computer, making dinner, or eating a meal.
• Get regular Chiropractic spinal adjustments! We all do things in our daily routines that can
  rotate or misalign our spinal vertebrae, especially if our muscles surrounding and supporting the
  spine are weak. This includes, but is not limited to, repetitive sitting and rotation of the spine at
  our desks (especially if you are looking at more than one computer monitor) or with driving,
  sleeping, playing sports, or with lifting and carrying postures.

I hope this article provided you with some helpful insight on your spine and tips for maintaining a
healthy skeleton this Halloween season and beyond!